


pancakes

by popnographic



Category: Free!
Genre: Birthday, Getting Together, M/M, Meet-Ugly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2019-03-09 00:40:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13470030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/popnographic/pseuds/popnographic
Summary: When Rin tries to sneak out of an apartment following the threesome he'd participated in last night, he doesn't expect someone else to join him in the hallway on the way out the door at four in the morning.





	pancakes

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Rin's birthday, 2/2/18.

Rin has a rule of thumb he _always_ follows: never spend the night at a one-night-stand’s place. It just makes for an awkward morning where either the person he’s spent the night with feels obligated to make him breakfast, or they’re trying to get out fast to get to work or home to their significant other.

(That’s actually happened once; Rin was invited to a man’s hotel room, spent the night, was thrown out early the next morning as the man had to get home to his wife. _That_ taught Rin a lesson he won’t soon forget.)

The hallway is pitch dark, so Rin finds his way by using his phone’s flashlight. Even though he still has to sober up, Rin manages to be quiet and find his stuff before he prepares to leave. He’s good at not making noise when leaving someone’s place whether he’s sober or tipsy, since he always pays attention where he puts his feet, and usually also where he turns.

… with emphasis on ‘usually’.

This time, though, Rin doesn’t notice someone sneaking out of the bedroom, still getting himself dressed, and when the person walks up behind Rin and whispers a very tiny ‘hey’, Rin has to fight for his dear life in order not to yell loudly.

“What the _fuck_ ,” he hisses. “I didn’t notice you coming.”

He shines his light right in the face of the guy, who smiles sheepishly at him. Rin definitely hadn’t expected to bump into anyone at this hour… but maybe the fact that last night’s arrangements were a bit out of the norm for him, he should’ve known to expect this.

“Sorry.”

Instead of saying something else, Rin rolls his eyes, and finishes putting his shoes and jacket on. When he’s done, he finds himself waiting for the other guy, who thankfully speeds up when he notices Rin standing by the door. They end up leaving the apartment together, and the other guy is put in charge of locking the door behind them and put it back into the door’s mail slot.

Maybe this is why Rin hasn’t ever said yes to being in a threesome before—because it could get potentially awkward when both people leave. How was he supposed to know when the other guy planned his exit? Rin hadn’t paid attention to how much the other two had been drinking, but Rin himself had made sure to not get himself drunk, as he always does. Usually he just needs to be a little tipsy to get in the mood, but he thinks he may have still overstepped his limit this time since he apparently agreed to joining in on a goddamn threesome.

The two still lightly inebriated men take the lift down to the bottom floor in even more awkward silence, and when they leave the building, Rin heaves a sigh. This isn’t the way he’d planned on spending the start of his birthday, but sometimes things like these happen. Actually, not even sometimes. Very rarely. Rin wonders if he should consider himself lucky or the opposite.

“Something up?” the other guy asks him. Rin shrugs.

“This was a mistake. Don’t take that the wrong way, it’s just… not something I would normally agree to.”

The man walking next to him laughs a little. “Oh, you and me both. I really don’t know what got into me. I guess the alcohol helped, and not to mention the fact that I got to sleep with two good-looking men.”

Rin raises his eyebrows a little, his mood changing ever so slightly at the compliment. “You’re not too shabby, either.”

“Ha, thanks.”

Rin realises he doesn’t know where he’s headed, and that he’s just walking. He doesn’t actually have any plans for his birthday since all of his jackass friends have to work that day, including his sister who doesn’t even live in the same town, but he feels like being a little annoyed with Gou, too. Just because it’s his birthday.

So Rin stops walking as he has an idea. If he doesn’t have anything else to do, why not? It’s all about _making_ shit happen, and not waiting for it. He’d obviously agreed to the threesome for _some_ reason, and it definitely wasn’t just because of the guy whose apartment he and the second stranger just left.

“Hey, this might sound a little weird, and maybe you think it’d be awkward, but do you wanna go get breakfast while we’re already out and about?”

The guy looks at him, and practically lights up. “That sounds great. What’re you in the mood for?”

“Pancakes,” Rin blurts without thinking, though pancakes _do_ sound really good right about now.

“Thank god you said pancakes; I’ve been craving them since I came to about thirty minutes ago.”

 

* * *

 

As expected, Rin and the stranger are the only ones eating at the place they end up at, but it’s pretty nice. It’s the first time Rin’s been to a breakfast restaurant this early, and he almost sees it in a different light; it just seems like a completely different place than what he’s used to. There are only a few people working, they’re talking, laughing and not stressing about running between the kitchen and the restaurant. There’s radio music streaming out from the wall speakers on low volume, and the atmosphere’s just very comfortable to be in.

“Wow, you two are early,” the woman behind the counter comments when Rin and the stranger walk inside. “Welcome! Go take a seat, and I’ll bring you the menus.”

“Actually,” Rin says, “we just wanna order pancakes. And I need coffee.”

“Me too.”

Rin glances to his side, and he can’t help but laughing. “Maybe we’re more similar than I originally thought.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t be so quick to judge,” the guy counters. Rin hums.

“Touché.”

They sit down by a window table, and Rin takes the time to check his phone. Of course, there’s two birthday messages already in his inbox: one from Gou, and one from Kisumi, otherwise known as the night owl among his friends. How the man functions like a human being is beyond Rin, but he always forgets to ask just _how_ Kisumi manages to do it.

After a little while, their breakfast arrives, complete with the coffee. To his horror, Rin sees his company pour both a horrifying amount of sugar into his coffee, but he also adds milk. Rin’s pretty sure that cup isn’t worthy of the name coffee by this point, but he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he drinks his own coffee, plain black, and immediately notices how good it is.

“No work for you today, either, huh?”

Rin looks up from his cup, and he shrugs. “Nah, I took the day off.”

“What’s the occasion?”

He wonders why he’d tell a stranger that it’s his birthday, but then also figures he might as well, since they’re probably not gonna see each other again, anyway. Besides, he finds the guy pretty easy to talk to, which is nice. Not at all what he’d expected from a one-night-stand, but he’s certainly not going to complain.

“It’s my birthday, actually. I tend to take the day off when it’s my birthday since I don’t wanna have to deal with the fuss at work.”

The guy across from him looks at Rin with widened eyes. “Wow, really? Happy birthday.”

Rin laughs again, shaking his head. “Thanks. Quite the way to start a birthday, huh.”

“Nothing wrong with it. I’m Makoto, by the way.”

“Rin,” he says, and then he smiles before taking a sip. “Why, would _you_ spend the morning of your birthday like this?”

“I don’t see why I wouldn’t,” Makoto says. “Well, that depends on your living situation, I suppose. I live alone, so I don’t really have anyone who would serve me breakfast in bed on my birthday, anyway.”

“How do you start your birthday, then?”

Makoto hums thoughtfully. “Well, if it’s a weekday, I get something to go from a convenience store for breakfast on my way to work. Weekend… I make my own breakfast. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

If Rin didn’t live alone like Makoto, he’d think what Makoto just told him sounded awfully lonely. Rin often gets unannounced visits from his friends or family on his birthday except when people absolutely can’t get off work. There are times when even Rin can’t get a day off for his birthday, and he absolutely _loathes_ working on his birthday since everyone at work knows, and they tend to make the day hell for him because they know he gets easily embarrassed by the attention.

Last year, Gou had spent the weekend with him, so she’d ended up making Rin breakfast on his birthday, leaving for home that evening. When people can’t come see him, like today, Rin tends to just eat whatever he finds at home for breakfast. Sometimes it’s a full breakfast with rice and miso, and sometimes it’s just half-dry scraps of bread with butter.

… maybe this isn’t such a bad way to start his birthday, then.

“Huh,” Rin replies. “Well, I guess that’s adulthood for you. Honestly, it’s not that much different for me, except for the times my sister comes to visit and makes me breakfast in bed.”

Makoto smiles. “That’s nice of her.”

“It is.”

The pancakes they’ve ordered for breakfast are unexpectedly good; light, fluffy, and not too sweet. Rin doesn’t have pancakes very often as he mostly opts for a traditional Japanese breakfast, but he doesn’t regret his choice this morning. The company helps, too. Rin really shouldn’t be so quick to judge people—he finds himself really liking talking to Makoto.

“So,” Rin says, grinning. “How about last night, huh.”

“Indeed. For the first time I ever had a threesome, that was practically bar-setting.”

Now, Rin raises an eyebrow. “Are you implying you’d do it again?”

“I don’t know,” Makoto admits. “I’m looking for something a little more stable than the occasional hook-ups.”

“Who says you’ll have to exclude threesomes if you get into a relationship?”

Makoto frowns in confusion. “What?”

“I'm guessing you've never heard of poly, then.”

“Poly… what?”

Rin laughs again, shaking his head. This might just be the best breakfast he’s had in years.

 

* * *

 

Rin and Makoto leave the breakfast diner just as people start coming in for their morning coffee. The sun’s up now, and it helps to bring up the temperature a little bit. It’s still really cold, though, and Rin doesn’t want to be outside for too long.

He and Makoto make company until they reach the crossroad near the supermarket. All Rin is looking forward to now is a shower, and to get some proper sleep in his own bed. The two hours he got at the stranger’s place following the threesome last night wasn’t even close to enough, so he still has quite a bit of sleep to catch up on. One cup of coffee only helps so much, and for a very limited amount of time.

“Well, happy birthday again,” Makoto says.

“Thanks. And thanks for last night.”

Makoto laughs. “Ditto. So, this might sound a little weird, and maybe you think it’d be awkward, but do you wanna have dinner tonight? On me, of course, since it’s your birthday.”

Well, now that Rin’s gotten to _know_ Makoto a little, and they had breakfast together, dinner doesn’t sound too bad. It isn’t as if he’s got other plans, either, and he likes Makoto’s company. Definitely enough to see him again.

He smiles at how Makoto modified his own line from earlier, choosing to do the same thing to Makoto. “That sounds great.”

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](http://radiodread.tumblr.com) | [twitter](http://twitter.com/idiotmatsu)


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